the heart attack grill .... only in amerika

not much to say about this, but take a look at the video.
only in amerika.

crafty vendor sells solar-roasted chickens ...

this truly appeals to me for many reasons.

As posted by Mark Wilson at 12:00 AM on April 23, 2008 on www.gizmodo.com.au

Happy Earth Day everyone! Instead of urging you to recycle all those gadgets that will otherwise leak poison into our planet, we'd rather offer you a more positive, less obvious story to whet your Earth Day appetite. Sila Sutharat runs a Thai chicken stand outside of Bangkok. He roasts 50 chickens a day. And he does it completely through the sun.

Apparently Sutharat uses a complex array of mirrors and glass to focus the sun's rays into one spot a la magnifying glass. As you can see, he wears big goggles and covers himself in white clothing. On a sunny day, the light is so intense that it can cook a 1.6kg chicken in 10 minutes. On an overcast day that number jumps to 20. But on a rainy day, that number drops to never.

He sells the chickens for $5 a pop.

While it's an amazing story, we can't help but consider the amount of time it takes to cook whole chickens on our grill—over the sun's flames. We're guessing that Sutharat's marinade is heavy in acids, allowing him to almost precook the chickens a bit before roasting them like ants, leaves or your buddy's pants when he's not looking.

In the meantime, if anyone would like to try this at home, feel free to send pics of your failed contraptions, but we're having nothing to do with your burns—on the arms or in the intestines.

here's a link to more info.
and be aware of the food safety you need to follow when emulating sutharat's genius.

nicole's restaurant, mendon, vermont - circa 1986. my formative years ...

this video was created around 1986 at the restaurant where i did my most important/influential apprenticeship, nicloe's new american cuisine, mendon, vermont, usa. the restaurant was owned and operated by peter ryan and detlev martitsch-kreiner. eriksson hill was sous chef at the time, and after he left to go on to other projects i then became sous chef to detlev.

despite only working with these gentleman for a short 2 years i have to say it was the defining time for me in regard to my career in f and b and the manner in which i came to view not only the food, but my craft and my relationship to it and the world around me. if i had not spent that time under detlev's tutelage my life would not have become what it is today, i would not have had the experiences or opportunities that i have had, and i would not be able to look back and know that i was blessed to have had the chance of a life time. i think not a day has passed since leaving nicole's, and moving on to a kitchen of my own, that i have not thought about or used something of value from those days.

every time i view this video i get the same charge that i did when i first saw it. to know that i was a part of something that was as unique and wonderful as nicole's is fulfilling and rewarding in itself.

the video was produced, directed, filmed and edited by david huot (dh productions) for the purpose of being used as a local tv commercial spot to promote nicole's. given the fact that he was/is predominantly an action/sports videographer speaks volumes about his innate talent and pov.

the relationships/friendships that were formed at nicole's have lasted us all a lifetime, and i think will continue to do so. i am proud to have been a part of that little slice of culinary wonderment. thank you ted, peter and eriksson, i would not have gotten this far without you.

and david, this video has been the center piece of my resume/cv since the first time i sought employment after leaving nicole's, thanks.

nicole's staff about the time of the video:



detlev (1st from left), eriksson (5th from left),
me (2nd from right), peter (1st from right)
(all back row)

some specials menus from that time:

mother's day @ hawk resort


a taste of new orleans

a taste of northern italy

more on lunch, etc - this is supposed to be about lunch and foodie stuff, i have digressed ...

well, i have had idle time to surf the net and get distracted. i have found some great tunes and also some great photo exhibits, but now let's get back to food, after all, we can not live on art, or can we?

first is the lunch i had on the train up from nyc to brattleboro, vt.

i know from past experience the the food on the train is limited,
horrible and insanely expensive, so i bought a greek salad

and a tuna sandwichat zaros in the penn station terminal
and took it on the train for the 6 hour journey to visit my mom.
both were good and the portions were typical to america, HUGE.

i find the view form the train in many countries is about the same.
real estate near train tracks is not always the most desirable
and many times those who live near the tracks are lower income or poor.
the usa is no exception. here a few pics that i hope are not so "poor".

the #56 vermonter train.

what is totally cool was there is a power outlet for devices next to every seat.
i spent the whole journey bluetoothing my phone pics
to the laptop and formatting them for this post.

i saw many car dealerships with their lots full of all the gas guzzling models

that will not sell and can not sell now that we are in an economic collapse.
too bad detroit didn't follow japan when the time called for a shift in car design.
typical american business pracitce.
now we, the people, have to pay for these cars
despite not wanting them to begin with.
ironic at best.

i arrived on time and met my mom who had made the
45 minute drive to pick me up despite being ill. mom's are like that,
even when you are 56, they are still your mom.

we went to the local co-op, picked up some veggies to have with dinner
and went over the mountain and home to the house where i grew up.

being in a snowy mountan region my mom has learned
from past experience to keep a full freezer
for when she gets snow bound, so i had a choice
of many family favorites that she had socked away.
i chose macaroni cheese.

she uses penne noodles, not elbow macaroni.
this gives the dish more substance and it
remains al dente during the cooking process.

she uses a local white cheddar, something we are famous for
and people have mailed to them all over the world.

this is a k.i.s.s dish.
keep it simple stupid.
just noodles, great cheese (cabot's is one) and milk, penne and
topped with fresh whole wheat bread crumbs that are shredded,
not dry and ground.

some great co-op spinach.
just steamed, chopped and a little bit of whole unsalted butter added.

my mom's table.

the next day it was still very cold so we had some of mom's chicken soup
with home made matzo balls (is there any other kind?).

matzo balls are unique to jewish cuisine but being dumplings,
they are really common to many cultures and can be found in most any country.
whenever i make them in thailand my thai friends love them.

matzo balls are not made from flour, they are made form matzoh meal.
some folks use a prepared one, and others grind their own.
this is derived from matzos, un-leavened bread, that is dry and ground coarsely.
like any dumpling the trick is to keep them light and fluffy,
my mom never fails at this task.

the next day the freezing rain stopped and i was able to
drive over the mountain to bennington, vt and go shopping.

i bought many things, but what i was looking for, and found,
was mary's kitchen corned beef hash for breakfast

and some fresh cod fish.

i had the hash with eggs and rye toast for breakfast the next day
and we had the cod fish for dinner.

this is a half can of the hash in a heavy bottomed, non-stick skillet.
try to use a skillet that is thick bottomed so it will
cook the hash slowly and brown it well.
non-stick is also great when the time comes to flip-it/turn it over.
the hash should develop a nice crust (skin) which creates
the great texture hash eaters are looking for.

i find canned hash to be superior to any home made
one i have ever had, bar none.
everything is uniformly cut and the fat content of this one is minimal.

cook the hash first, as it takes a while to brown, and then set it to rest.

then i started the toast and fried the eggs.
i usually have poached eggs with hash, but i was being lazy that day
so i simply made them over-easy.


2 of these rye slices are fresh, and one was frozen.
note the distinct difference in how they toasted up.
either way, i love this stuff and can not get it in bangkok.
the thai rye breads never have seeds, and are never light,
always heavy and dense.
a good, ny style seeded rye is hard to find these days, even in ny.

notice, that as always, i forgot to take the picture before i started to eat.
i caught myself this time right after i pierced the first egg.

that night we had the cod fish.
actually it was scrod, a smaller fish than the one in the link above.
i bought two small fillets and trimmed them down.
next i placed them in a broiler pan that was lightly oiled with olive oil
and i ground fresh black pepper on them.

next i rummaged around in my mom's re-frig-a-lator and found
half a spanish onion, half a bermuda onion, and half of a beefsteak tomato.

also, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, italian parsely and some
pimento stuffed manzanilla olives and some nonpareil capers.
just enough to make a garnish for the fish.

i diced the veggies and first sauteed the onions in
a mixture of olive oil and olive oil margarine.
i love these products because i can use them to my hearts content,
and my heart is content.

then i tossed in the herbs, tomato, olives and capers.
i purposely did not put the tomato in at first so as not to over cook them.
then i simply added them to the pan and tossed it a few times.

i ground some fresh black pepper into it and put it on top of the fish fillets.

i then put the fish under the broiler and steamed the veggies
and boiled 2 potatoes.

fairly simple and straight forward,
and i used up some things that were being neglected in the fridge,
something i like to do. i find it a challenge to use
whatever is in the bottom of the crisper box, wherever i am.

ashes and snow, another fantastic exhibit of human expression

i have always had an interest in photography and to see the images that this man has created stuns me.

Since its debut in Venice in 2002, over 10 million people have attended Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert, an exhibition of more than 50 large-scale photographic artworks, a 60-minute feature film, and two 9-minute film haiku.

The Nomadic Museum, the permanent travelling home of Ashes and Snow, debuted in New York in 2005 and then migrated to Santa Monica, Tokyo, and Mexico City. Ashes and Snow at the Nomadic Museum will open in Brazil in 2009.

i invite you to follow the link to his site which is so kindly sponsored by the rolex institute.

view tribus de L'OMO / hans silvester

this was sent to me by a friend and it was just to good to not post it here.

i recommend you click the link directly below here to see this slide show in its full sized format . Tribus de L'OMO / Hans Silvester

taylor swift, country music has come a long way ... or has it?

i became a big fan of country music back in 1988 when i first heard lyle lovett, now i enjoy many different country artists. here is one that i have recently become found of. so here's taylor swift, enjoy - or not ...

teardrops on my guitar:



picture to burn:



i'm only me when i'm with you:



you belong with me:



you're not sorry:



mary's song (oh my my my) live bamboozle:




had enough? :-)